Ending Listings Early
The ideal conclusion to listing an item is to have that item sell. However, the seller may need to end an item listing before it would normally end. In the API, this is done using EndItem, EndFixedPriceItem, or EndItems (to end multiple listings at one time).
A seller might need to end the listing because the item is no longer available or was lost or broken.
For auctions that have qualifying bids (i.e., current high bid that, when applicable, meets the minimum reserve price), you must specify an EndingReason value. If you specify "SellToHighBidder", the listing ends as a successful auction with winning bidder(s). If you specify another EndingReason value, such as "LostOrBroken", all bids are automatically can celled before the item is ended as an unsuccessful auction.
EndItems allows you to end up to 10 items early with a single call. Any restrictions that apply to EndItem apply to EndItems, as well. Refer to the EndItems page in the Call Reference for more information. When you end an item early, you are charged the listing fee for that item, with one exception. For information about this exception, see Fees For Ending Listings Early.
If the listing has no bids (or no qualifying bids) when EndItem is used, then the listing is ended as an unsuccessful auction. When a listing is ended early and was not successfully sold, the seller must specify a reason for ending the listing early.
A single-quantity, fixed price listing can only be ended early if no user purchased that single item. Otherwise the listing would have ended on that purchase.
Multi-quantity, fixed-price listings present a distinct variation of the use of EndItem to end a listing early. The purchase of a single item in a fixed-price listing (where multiple items are offered) is immediate, but does not end the listing. EndItem can be called for such listings so long as the listing's end time has not passed. But any individual items in the listing that have already been purchased by buyers are still considered successfully sold when EndItem is used. Order line items cannot be undone by ending a listing early. Only the unpurchased items in the listing are ended when EndItem is used.
Restrictions For Ending Items Early
Note the following restrictions for ending items early:
- EndItem cannot be used to end another user's listings. The requesting user making the call must be the listing's seller. (Users are not allowed to end another user's listings—except, of course, by actually purchasing the item.)
- EndItem can be used only on listings that are still active. The call fails with an error if used with an already ended item listing.
- EndItem will fail with an error if there are 12 hours or fewer left before the auction ends and there are any bids on the auction, including a reserve met bid.
The table below summarizes the effects of ending an item early for various listing types.
Effects of Ending an Item Listing Early
| Listing Type | Effects |
|---|---|
| Auction | Current high bidder becomes winning bidder if the reserve price is met (if the listing has a reserve price) and EndReason is set to SellToHighBidder. The listing ends as a successfully sold item. If a different EndReason is specified, any bids are can celled and the listing ends as an unsuccessful listing (item unsold). |
| Fixed-price | The listing ends. Any order line items are still valid and payment is still expected from the buyer(s) and shipping of the item(s) are still expected from the seller. |
| Buy It Now | Listing ends as an unsuccessful listing (item unsold). If a user had exercised the Buy It Now option, the listing would have already ended. If at least one user has placed a bid on the listing, treat as an auction (see above). |
| Classified Ad | The listing ends immediately, instead of at the scheduled date and time. |
The application must identify the listing to be ended early. This is done by specifying that listing's item ID as the value for the ItemID. If using EndItem results in the listing ending as an unsuccessful listing (the item was not sold), then the application must specify the reason for ending the listing. This is done by specifying the reason in the EndingReason property of the request object. Possible values for the EndingReason property are enumerated in the EndReasonCodeType code list.
Fees For Ending Listings Early
Although EndItems allows you to end up to 10 items early, when you end an item early, you are charged you usual listing fee, with one exception. On the US site, sellers are allowed to end one auction early per calendar year that has at least one bid free of charge. For all other auctions ended early after the first occurrence you will be charged the listing fee for the item.